Our view: Gift of life an easy choice

It comes sooner for some than others, but this much is clear. Most of us don't like reflecting on what is part of the natural life cycle. We prefer to defer any discussion of our own end game. We often act as though we can defy the inevitable.

But death comes for us all. And if we pause just for a minute, each one of us can choose to be heroes after death. It should be the easiest of choices, really, but we must choose to do it while we're very much alive.

To choose a gift of life upon our death seems so simple, so generous. Organ donations can safe a life even as another ends.

Reflect on the long list of people awaiting an organ transplant, 120,000 people on the national transplant waiting list and about 1,800 live in Louisiana. Imagine yourself or someone who love on that list - a heart or a liver needed to stay alive. If doctors find a compatible organ, you live. If not, you die. It's that stark.

And that's how important organ donations are.

In Louisiana, it's as easy as designating yourself as an organ donor on your driver's license.

Recently, St. Francis brought the concept to life and reality with its "Wall of Heroes." Dozens of family members of local organ donors joined the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency and St. Francis Medical Center to recognize and honor each organ donor as heroes of our community. The hospital held a blessing and dedication of the "Wall of Heroes," which includes pictures and short stories about the organ and tissue donors from St. Francis Medical Center. The heroes adorn a second-floor wall.

The ceremony was part of National Donate Life Month to help raise awareness about the critical need for people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors.

The wall ties heroes with their living legacies.

Janet White learned about her daughter's decision to be an organ donor after an accident cut her life short. Today there's a young woman in Florida who is alive thanks to Leigh Ann's decision.

Lisa Bryant's mother, Julia, also made the decision to become an organ donor. A Baton Rouge teacher lives because of her liver.

A single donor has the potential to save up to nine lives, restore sight to two people through cornea donation and enhance the lives of 50 people through tissue donation.

To learn more about organ and tissue donation, visit the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency's website at www.lopa.org or call 800-521-GIVE. Take a moment to designate yourself as a donor. And know that this painless act now could save another's life, and touch who knows how many other lives in the process.

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Our view: Gift of life an easy choice

Death comes for us all. It comes sooner for some than others, but this much is clear. Most of us don't like reflecting on what is part of the natural life cycle. We prefer to defer any discussion of